Creating References

This webpage covers how to create a bibliography or reference list using the Author-Date Style. For information on making citations in this format, click on the right-hand column below: 

Principles of Citation  Basic Examples  Working Citations into your Text

Principles of Referencing  General Reference Templates Sample References

Principles of Author-Date Style Referencing

The second part of documentation is a reference list, which lists all sources used by the writer.  The sources "used" are those that get cited in the text of the report.  In author-date style, the sources are listed alphabetically by the author's last name. 

• Authors are commonly identified by a first initial and a last name, but you should give the author's full name if the original source provides it.
• If the source has more than one author, start with the last name of the first author, but list the others normally.
• In some cases, the author may be a company or other organization.
• Note the punctuation in the samples below.  End each item with a period.

Sample -- Author-Date Reference List

Note: The view of this sample may vary depending on your browser. When last checked, it worked on both Netscape and Explorer. You should see that all lines of text except the first are indented.

 

References Akao, F., K. Araki, S. Mori & A. Moriyama. 1980.  Trans. Iron   Steel Inst. Japan 20: 737-743. Chandra, S. and C. T. Avedisian. 1991.  On the collision of a droplet with a solid surface. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 432: 13-41. Engineering Writing Centre, University of Toronto. 1996. "Short Reports."  <http://www.ecf.toronto.edu:80/~writing/ shrtrept.htm>. Accessed Dec. 8, 1996. Jerz, Rosemary C., Software Engineer, DynMeridian.  Telephone interview, Washington D.C., 26 October 1996. Pasandideh-Fard, M., Y. M. Qiao, S. Chandra,  and J. Mostaghimi. 1996. Capillary effects during droplet impact on a solid surface. Physics of Fluids 8:650-659. Tung, C. Y. 1982. Evaporative Heat Transfer in the  Contact Line of a Mixture. Ph.D. thesis, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Troy, N.Y. Worthington, A. M. 1877a. Proc. R. Soc. Lond.  25:261-271. ---------- 1877b. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 25:498-503. ---------- 1908. A study of splashes. London:  Longmans, Green and Co.

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General templates -- author-date style references

Here are several generalized templates for the Author-Date style. You can also work from the EWC Bibliography Builder to create a clear reference. Below, note not only the order of the information but the punctuation and the changes in font. 

A book: 

Author's last name, first name. Year of publication. Title of book. City of publication: Name of publisher.

A journal article: 

Author's last name, first name. Year of publication. Title of article. Title of journal Volume number: Page numbers.

A web document: 

The idea of a reference is to make it possible for a reader to consult the same sources that you did. Since websites change, your bibliography should include the date you downloaded the file, (and you should save your own copy of the remote file in case it changes or disappears completely from the internet). If you cannot find the information a good reference requires, you should ask yourself whether it is fair to ask your reader to trust that particular source. 

Author's last name, first name. Date writtenor modified. Title of document. Internet. <URL>. Date accessed.

Enclose the URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or internet address) in angle brackets. If the URL will not fit in one line, divide it after a slashmark and do not add a hyphen. 

A person: 

If you wish to document information from an e-mail transmission, a classroom lecture, a telephone conversation, or a personal interview, use the following format: 

Person's last name, first name, Identity, Description of contact method, location where contact originated (if applicable). Day, month, and year of contact.

The item "identity" above could be the person's job title and employer; however, in some cases labels such as "eyewitness" or "widow of test pilot" would be more informative. 

Multiple works by the same author(s): 

If you have two or more sources with exactly the same authorship, list the author(s) for the earliest source, and for all subsequent references, replace these names with a series of ten hyphens. See Worthington bibliography example above. Two sources with more than one author have exactly the same authorship only if all of the names appear in the same order. 
 
 

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